Sheet package and skid therefor



Oct. 21, 1952 Q HAMMER 2,614,688

SHEET PACKAGE AND SKID THEREFOR Filed D80. 14, 1949 2 SHEETS-SHEET lFIE- l- 1 v w k5 A /9 [a W 20 *5 2/ f 5x20 I 20 /6 9! 6 I V/ w L5. JU 446% YEW 3% I. 1 f

Z mm" mm" It P00 Q ZZWME Z Imam):

Oct. 21, 1952 R. o. HAMMER 2,614,683

SHEET PACKAGE AND SKID THEREFOR Filed Dec. 14, 1949 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2/@/I' Z4 Z5 if 57 10 7/ Z? [Wei L507": 1901/ a HQMMEF,

Patented Oct. 21., 1952 maul: O..-:;Hammen,: Pittsburgh, 1a., .assig norto United States Steel, Companm-a cprpgration of New Jersey 'ippimamnDecember 14;"1949;'Serial Naif 132.845

My invention relates packaging flat rolled sheet material for handling 1and. shipment. and inparticular to a skidformed. -=-=from sheet metal.

At-present woodskidsare-used for the above pur;pose, generally two 4x 4timbers ofabout -the-same length as-the sheet material to be packaged.--The timbers: are placed in spaced -apart parallelrelationship; thesheets ipiled thereon-and the package .boundtogether by? sev eral-steelstraps or--wires passed around the bundle in both longitudinal andtransverse directions. A large stock of timbers must be kept for thispurpose. The weight and variety of sizes involved makes it uneconomicalto return wood skids to the shipper for re-use. The procedure iswasteful, moreover diiilculties are often encountered in handling thepackages at their destination due to shifting of the skids duringloading and shipment.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a relatively smallsheet metal skid which may be used in multiples as required by thelength of the sheet material and which is adapted to be bound to thestack or pile of sheets by the shipping straps or wires.

Another object is to provide a package of sheets which may be handledfrom any side with a conventional lifting tractor.

A further object is to provide a method of making such a skid andpackage therefrom.

'These and other objects will be made apparent Figure l is a plan viewof the unformed skid blank of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a side elevation of a skid formedfrom the blank shown inFigure 1;

Figure 3 is a cross section through the skid taken along the line IIIIIIof Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a plan view of a completed package of sheets showing themanner in which the skids of the present invention are used; and

Figure 5 is a side elevation of the package shown in Figure 4. 1

With particular reference to the drawings, the unformed skid blank 2 ofFigure 1 may be any grade of sheet steel readily available; sheet millrejects being a convenient source of material. The material ispreferably 11 or 12 gage, but heavier metal can be used if formingequipment of adequate capacity is available. Metal lighter than 12 gage,however, should not normally be used for reasons of strength. The lengthof the blank is substantially equal to the girth of the to a metal skidfdr thesblank'is'equa1 to=the-=length of the -skid.

".f 2 skid-to be formed-theref-rom and the'width of 1': The-lines 4, 6and 8 in Figure l-representbend lines and define the top portion l0,side portions .12 andbottom portions and 16 of theifinished skid. Thelines-i8 are .1 spaced from the longit-udinal edge of theblankbyanamountequal to about half the height of-the-finished skid; Op-'positely disposed. 'right triangular shaped notches 18. are made in:the. side portions l2, one leg of each right triangle lying:along-the-edge of.the

blank,.the other along 'theline 6: Thenecessary cuts indicated bythefreferencegnumbers l9 and 20, are made to terminate at theintersection of bend lines 6 and 8, and preferably to make an angle ofabout 45 at this point. A transverse slotted hole 22 is punched in eachof theside portions l2 adjacent bend line! at about the longitudinalcenter line of the blank.

A skid 24 is formed by bending the blank .2

downwardly at right angles at the bend lines 4,

then inwardly at the line 6 so that the ends of the blank abut at aboutthe center of the bottom of the skid. The portions of the bottomidentified by the reference number 5 are bent upwardly about bend line 8so as to incline at about the same angle as the miter-cut 20 in the sideportions l2. This construction provides a substantially open-endedrectangular box section having oppositely disposed transverse slottedholes 22 in the sides near the top thereof and having the front and rearedges of the bottom chamfered.

At least four of the skids 24 are used in making a package of sheets,the number being increased in multiples of two as required by the lengthand the weight of the material of the package. I have found that sixskids provide a particularly convenient and adequate support formost'sizes of sheet material shipped. In a package using six skids asshown in Figures 4 and 5 the skids are arranged in pairs 26, 21 and 28,the skids of each pair being spaced apart and aligned with respect totheir transverse axes, i. e., the slotted holes 22 in the skids of eachpair are aligned. The pairs'of skids are spaced apart end-wise in twoparallel rows A and B, the skids in each row being aligned length-wise.depends upon the size of the sheet material, and is such as will providea stable package. A transverse tie wire or strap 30 is threaded throughthe slotted openings 22 of the skids in threaded through the open endsof the skids in each row. The sheets are then piled on the skid Theexact spacing skids are readily handled and stored, and can be returnedto the shipper for re-use.

While I have shown and describedaspecific' embodiment of my invention,,1 do not wish to be limited exactly thereto except as defined in thescope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A package comprising a plurality of sheetmetal skids, each having twoparallel sides with oppositely disposed slots therein and substantiallyopen ends, said skids being arranged in pairs with the oppositelydisposed side slots of each pair in alignment, said pairs being arrangedin a spaced end to end arrangement to form two substantially parallelrows, a stack of sheets-supported on said skids, tie wires passingthrough the aligned slots of each pair of skids and encompassing thepile of sheets and tie wires passing through the open ends of the skidsin each row and encompassing the pile of sheets.

2. A package comprising a plurality of sheet= 4 metal skids, each formedfrom a single metallic sheet to provide a top, two sides, a bottom andsubstantially open ends, said sides of each skid having oppositelydisposed slots located adjacent the top thereof, said skids beingarranged in pairs with the oppositely disposed side slots of each pairin alignment, said pairs being arranged in a spaced end to endarrangement to form two substantially parallel rows, astack of sheetssupported on said skids, tie wires passing through the aligned slots ofeach pair of skids and encompassing the pile of sheets and tie wirespassing through the open ends of the skids in each row and encompassingthe pile of sheets.

ROLF O. HAMMER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,637,242 Reilly July 26, 19271,689,097 Wright Oct. 23, 1928 1,690,873 ONeil NOV. 6, 1928 1,812,218Powell June 30, 1931 1,875,104 Mossberg et a1 Aug. 30, 1932 2,078,959McDonnell May 4, 1937 2,119,956 McDonnell June7, 1938 2,137,142 Nelson,Jr., et a1. Nov. 15, 1938 2,445,152 Poole July 13, 1948 2,526,228 HammerOct. 17, 1950

